Simply Me

     Hello, friends and family!
     So, it seems as if it's been almost two years since my last post in this blog.  At the encouragement of several people, I am going to start it up again.  In the past, I have been told that a 'successful' blog usually keeps it's posts to between 400 and 500 words.  With my previous posts, I found that the 500-word Limit often led to topics being broken up over multiple posts.  As I move forward, I will try to stay under the 500-word mark, but I'll warn you right now, in order to keep the 'partitioning' of topics to a minimum, there will be some wordy posts this time around.  So, let's get back to the beginning...

“I am neither Democrat nor Republican.  For those of you who love little pigeonholes, you may call me an Independent American Individual who believes in the Constitution as our Founding Fathers intended it.  I am also an ordained Christian minister who is not affiliated with any particular denomination because of my disgust with the dogma and politics in which most denominations are embroiled.  I believe in Right and Wrong.  I believe in Good and Evil.  I believe that the Universe is a logical, merciless, unforgiving place where A is A; that ignoring this and wishing otherwise is a form of suicide.  I believe in self-sufficiency.  I believe in Free Will.  Above all, I believe in Consequences, Forgiveness, and Redemption.  I love my Family, my God, and my Country.  Basically, I am a Traditional American.”

This is how I describe myself in my various social media accounts.  You know: those text boxes that ask you to sum up an entire Human Being in two hundred words or less. (One hundred thirty-four.  Not bad, eh?)  But just what does this little blurb actually tell you about that biological entity named “James?”  Well, from it, you may learn:

Ø  That I believe that neither of the major American political parties represents my views;

Ø  That I’m not fond of being categorized;

Ø  That I believe the majority of America’s leaders during the birth of our Republic got it right when they crafted the Constitution of the United States of America;

Ø  That I am a Christian in that I believe in God, and try to follow and pass on the teachings of the Christ; but that I have had some negative experiences with organized religion;

Ø  That I believe in the Universal Balance, the Yin and Yang of Existence;

Ø  That I believe I view all of Creation with a rational, scientific mind;

Ø  That I believe that everyone is responsible for their own actions, and that everyone is capable of changing and growing as a Human Being;

Ø  That I hold an affectionate allegiance for my relatives, spirituality, and my neighbors in this great nation;

Ø  And that, while I am a unique individual, I come from a culture of Unique Individuals; and that makes me just one of the folks.

At least those are the ideas I was trying to communicate.  For some people, though, my brief description seems to create more questions than it answers.

Therefore, I have decided, in an attempt to clarify any ambiguity or misconceptions, to embark upon the ultimate navel-gazing journey and de-mystify the complex individual that is me.  I plan to give each topic it’s full due.  Some of the topics, those that to me are self-evident, will be short, sweet, and to the point; not much more than dipping my toes into the water.  But many of the concepts that make up my make-up are complex and took many years and much research for me to embrace.  Into the brew of these more convoluted concepts I shall dive deeply, but I am going to try to keep it entertaining so as to make it as painless as possible for you, the reader.  As I lay bare my soul, here are a few things to keep in mind:

Ø  I fancy myself something of a wordsmith, so, yes, I do tend to speak like this;

Ø  If you question the way I am using a word, keep in mind that, since Junior High (middle school for readers under 35), I have almost exclusively used various editions of the Random House Unabridged Dictionary as my go-to reference on the English language.  Feel free to grab a copy to verify the definition I am using;

Ø  I will do my best to cite the source of any facts I quote and will list the citations as I go along.  However, the source of many of the facts I learned in my youth may be hidden somewhere in the cluttered recesses of my mind.  In these instances, I will qualify the fact with identifiers to let you, the reader, know that I remember finding confirmation for the fact at some point in the dim past, but I can neither remember nor confirm the source of the fact;

Ø  Each unique Human Being, beyond being a biological entity of the planet I like to call, “Earth,” is a living, breathing example of synergy.  The person you are right now is the culmination of: the abilities endowed by your genetic heritage; your formal education; every personal relationship, good or bad, you have ever had; in fact, every experience (also good or bad) you have ever had; every choice you have ever made; the environment in which you were raised; and an indeterminate number of additional variables.  This (possibly) astronomical number of variables still don’t quite add up to You.  There is an elusive, indefinable Human Quality that makes the Whole of You greater than the sum of your myriad physical and metaphysical parts.  I point this out so you can keep it in mind as I relate the things that shaped the Whole of Me.  It is very possible that you would have reacted differently or learned a different lesson than I did with each event or incident;

Ø  I am, by nature, a very visual person.  Because of this, I really like various figures of speech and tend to use them vigorously.  For me, it doesn’t matter if it’s an allegory, metaphor, parable, or simile; just as long as the words paint pictures on the canvas of my mind; And

Ø  I am also fond of quotations.  My feelings on the subject are simple: if someone before me has expressed a concept in an eloquent, succinct manner, why should I try to change it?  Attributions for quotations will be included.

Basically, the blog you are reading is nothing more nor less than an open letter to my family, friends, and acquaintances…a letter written in my own casual, inimitable (in my humble opinion) voice.  So, dear neighbor, sit back and enjoy the ride.  I’m not so vain to think that my life is so amazing that people are going to hang on my every word; I’m just hoping to clarify a few (dozen or so) things in my mind, provide some understanding for the people in my life, and possibly provide a cautionary tale or two to help others avoid the pot holes and speedbumps I’ve hit as I’ve traveled along this little road called Life.  If I stop and tip a few sacred cows along the way … shake up a few preconceived notions about who I am … then so much the better.  This epistle isn’t about some world-renowned celebrity or historical figure, it is about simply me.